Biases are prejudices or unsupported judgments that people make in favour of or against a person or a group of people.
Individuals and society create and communicate assumptions, beliefs, attitudes, and stereotypes about different Bias, whether conscious or not, can prevent you from caring for and educating children in a way that is inclusive. These biases can influence your professional practice, decision-making, and judgment. Biases can cloud your ability to see things fairly or accurately. This can happen in obvious and not so obvious ways.
Unlearning is a conscious practice and a choice to think and act differently.
It involves listening to and amplifying voices that are systemically excluded. Unlearning is part of a reflective practice, which is a strategy we describe in the Spark Guide.
Systemic exclusion
Systemic exclusion describes the ways that social structures, systems, and institutions — like early learning and child care systems, health care, and employment — marginalize and exclude people based on characteristics such as race and gender. This leads to power imbalances and barriers to accessing resources and opportunities. Systemic exclusion can show up as discriminatory policies and practices, which lead to poorer outcomes in health, socioeconomic status, and educational achievement, among others.
Learning about systemic exclusion, discrimination, and the impacts of power differences and privilege that stem from racism, colonialism, and other forms of marginalization and oppression.
Culturally responsive child care programs commit to ongoing learning in these areas. This can take many forms, including self-reflection, formal and informal training, engagement with ethnocultural and multilingual families, communities, and colleagues who can share their wealth of languages and cultural practices.
Access the full guide to gain crucial knowledge for fostering culturally responsive learning environments.